Author's Note: Thanks to everyone for being so patient in waiting for this installment. I hope it was worth the wait! = )
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"Does it matter how long I've known about your precious Josie?" Lara spit back, not at all intimidated with Sam's show of strength. After all, she'd chewed up and spit out trial lawyers who were twice as intimidating as Sam�(Of course, she hadn't slept with any of them, at least, not at the time�)
"To me, it does�" he replied, unmoving, his stare boring into Lara.
Lara huffed and snapped back, "Well, if you must know�I found out the way the rest of the damn country did�by watching it on TV."
Turning a scornful eye on Sam she spat out, "I could not frigging believe my eyes� After you call me and tell me you want to come back to me and for me to expect you on Sunday night, you don't show up. Then I turn on the TV to find you kissing some other woman�and that "other woman" is the same woman who used to be your student? Or did you think I forgot about our little "introduction" at that seedy bar you took me to?"
Actually Sam was a little surprised that Lara had made the connection. At the time, she'd seemed completely unimpressed with Josie, so Sam assumed she wouldn't have remembered her. "So, what you're telling me is that you've known about Josie and I since Sunday? If you already knew we were together, why in God's name would you fly all the way out here and pretend you didn't know?"
Lara snorted, as if she could not believe that Sam could possibly be so dense. "Do you think I was going to let that little whore walk off with you after I dedicated five years of my life to you!? I was not about to stand meekly by and let that tramp take you away from me! I was going to fight for what was mine, damn it!"
Sam felt his blood pressure rise when Lara described Josie as a "whore" and a "tramp", but he wasn't about to lose his temper and give Lara back the edge he'd maintained throughout their argument. Sucking in a deep breath and holding it, he let it out slowly before he replied tersely, "First of all, you have no idea what kind of person Josie really is, and secondly, Josie has precious little to do with the end of our relationship, so keep her out of it. Our relationship was over long before I even knew Josie�"
Lara cut Sam off mid-sentence. "Oh, don't give me that crap! If our relationship was so over, then why were we still together? Why we were we discussing you moving to New York? Oh, no�the end of our relationship had everything to do with Josie, and you damn well know it, Sam!"
"No it didn't, although I'm sure you don't want to admit it�it's easier to blame it on someone else than to take responsibility for it yourself. Lara, I had been miserable with you for months�maybe years�and even you have to admit that things were seriously lacking in our physical relationship. I mean, when was the last time we had even made love? Or maybe in your case I should say 'have sex', since it seems that love had very little to do with your attraction to me�"
Lara's eyes flashed angrily at Sam's jibe. "There's more to a relationship than just sex, Sam�"
Sam retorted, "Oh, congratulations for finally figuring that out! But it seems the realization comes just a little too late�"
"Boy, you're just full of witticisms today, aren't you Sam? You still haven't answered my question, though. How can you claim our relationship was over if you were still with me and making plans to move in with me?" Lara stood up again and leaned herself against the fridge, placing her hands on her hips, her body language itself demanding a reply.
"Well�" Sam felt suddenly uneasy, although he tried his best not to show it. "I guess it was because I had gotten so used to the way things were, I never really thought to question whether it was right for me."
"I had always had this dream of finding someone that I could connect to on many different levels; someone who really understood me, but over the years, I'd convinced myself that there was really no such person. But meeting Josie changed that for me."
"Uh-huh�and so how is it that our breakup had nothing to do with Josie?" Lara asked mockingly.
Sam gave Lara a dirty look and continued, "Josie didn't come between us, Lara�it was simply that being around her and realizing how much I had in common with her made me rethink things�made me really do some soul searching. And I found out that our relationship was sorely lacking in many ways that had always been important to me. Suddenly it became clear that I was settling for less than I'd wanted because I was afraid to take a chance. But then I realized that if I could have so much in common with a seventeen year old student, then maybe I really could find that woman I'd always hoped I'd find."
"I mean, face it, Lara�we have practically nothing in common. You don't even like who I am; you were constantly trying to change me. That's not love. That's called 'trying to fit a square peg into a round hole'."
Lara sniffed and answered haughtily, "Well, the 'square' part seems right, anyway�"
"Cute," Sam remarked dryly. "Very cute."
"You're trying to make this seem so sweet and innocent, but I'm not buying it, Sam. You were in love with that�girl�and long before you ever knew she was your age. I'm sorry, but that just seems so sick and twisted. Have you always been attracted to young girls, Sam? Is that why you like high school so much? Why you refused to give it up in favor of your adult girlfriend?"
Sam's face actually flushed with anger at Lara's insinuation that he was some kind of pervert. He knew that what had happened with Josie was a once in a lifetime thing, and he was convinced that he would not had been attracted at all if Josie really had been seventeen. He thoroughly believed that somehow his subconscious had realized what his conscious mind had not and that was why he had allowed himself to fall for Josie.
Sam clenched his fists until his knuckles were white. Slowly, coldly, with exaggerated emphasis, he said, "Considering you wouldn't know real love if it came up and bit you on the ass, I don't think I could possibly make you understand what happened with Josie and I."
Lara leveled her best lawyer's "you will tell me" look at him and spat out, "Try."
"I didn't just�fall in love with her. It was much more complicated than that. It began simply that I liked her, as a person, I mean. She and I had a lot in common. We both have a profound love of literature�"
Lara rolled her eyes at this, since she found literature as a whole supremely boring, but allowed Sam to continue without interruption.
"�that really was what started it all. She had the love and knowledge of the written word the way that I did, the way I thought no one else possibly could have. And then it was if we had 'clicked' in that way that makes one feel as if you have known a person forever�that you were really old, long-lost friends. She seemed to understand my emotions, what I was thinking�everything, without me ever saying a word. And it was the same for me, too. I could 'read' her expressions and just know what she was thinking."
"Uh-huh, fine. So when did this become the torrid love affair?"
Again, Sam flinched at the harsh crudeness implied by Lara's statement. "Lara, at the time, I believed Josie was seventeen years old. Josie was shy and innocent; there was no 'Lolita' dynamic in this situation. And there was certainly no 'torrid love affair.'"
Lara gave Sam an unbelieving glare. "Oh, sure, right�the lily-white knight in shining armor routine. Save the bull for someone who'll buy it, Sam. I know quite well that sex is what really drives most men's relationships�"
"Well, then, apparently I am not like most men, because until last Sunday on the ball field, Josie and I had never so much as even kissed each other. What exactly did you think 'Never Been Kissed' meant, anyway?"
Lara shrugged as if it didn't matter. "Sensationalism�nothing more. A way to sell more newspapers. Set the author up as an innocent, virginal-looking type and have the dashing Romeo 'save' her. That doesn't tell me squat about who she really is�except that maybe I should add a few 'moves' to my playbook�"
Sam let out a mirthless laugh. "You would see it that way, since you can only imagine people doing what you would do. Josie is not like that. She doesn't use people for her own personal or professional advancement."
Lara looked hard at Sam and spouted, "Isn't that exactly what she was doing? Do you really think for one second that she just innocently fell in love with you while she was undercover?"
"Actually, yes, I do believe that," he replied simply.
Lara chuckled. "Oh, Sam�you always were so gullible; always ready to believe the best of people� No way. It was a set-up, Sam. Plain and simple. She was going to rake you over the coals, before she got careless, that is. And once she fell for you, she still sought the fame and spotlight by coming up with that ridiculous stunt that would ensure that every media person in Chicago would cover it."
Sam shook his head in denial and replied, "Like I said, Lara�There is no way I could expect you to understand, since you don't have an ounce of love in your whole body that is not self-directed. Someone as obviously selfish and self- centered as you could not possibly get the concept of a higher, purer love."
Lara's eyes narrowed again, as if she were trying to see into Sam's soul and ferret out the truth. "Do you honestly mean to tell me that you were not physically attracted to her? That you were only interested in her mind? Have you got a bridge or two to sell me, too?"
"Of course I found her physically attractive. Josie's a wonderful, beautiful, desirable woman. I'd have been crazy not to notice that," Sam said.
"That 'wonderful, beautiful, desirable woman' was jailbait at the time, Sam, and you had no cause to think differently. I can't believe you had the hots for a girl who was ten years your junior. That's sick."
"Please�are you telling me you don't notice all the cute, blond, buff, teenaged lifeguards at the beach? Or the summer interns at the firm?"
"But I never screwed any of them�"
Sam's eyes narrowed and glittered dangerously. "All right, Lara, that is enough. I've already told you that nothing of that sort happened between Josie and I and I meant it. Josie's external beauty was far, far secondary to how I felt about who she was on the inside."
"So exactly where in this timeline did you break up with me? Before or after you fell in love with your student?"
Sam did not let Lara bait him. He answered honestly, "Truthfully? After. But I had denied my feelings, even to myself, for a long time. I tried not to let it interfere with what was going on with us. But, Josie or no Josie, I would have ended our relationship, Lara. I'm quite sure of that."
"Well, I'm not. Everything was going along just fine until that little tart came along."
Sam closed his eyes for a moment to hold back his blazing anger. When he opened them, he asked, "Fine for who? Certainly not for me�"
"How the hell would you know what's fine for you? You can't even control your hormones enough to stay out of the panties of your students!"
Sam felt his anger finally boiling over into white-hot rage. But just as he was about to blow a gasket and bodily throw Lara out of his apartment, his mind cleared. This was just Lara trying to get under his skin and twist things around until he admitted something she wanted to hear, just like she always did. He would not give her that satisfaction, especially since what she wanted him to admit hadn't even happened.
Sam took a deep breath and then smiled. "Obviously, you've already made up your mind as to what really happened, so I won't bother to trouble you further with pesky things like facts and actual occurrences� It seems that you are determined to make this whole break up my fault, that I have in some way grievously wronged you, just so that you can save face. And that's fine with me, because I really don't care anymore what you think or what you believe. I know the truth about what did and did not happen with Josie and that's all that matters to me."
"But does Josie know what did or didn't happen with me, I wonder? Maybe she'd like to know just how callous you can be�so she can be prepared for when you cast her aside for the captain of the cheerleading squad?"
Another jab, Sam thought. "I highly doubt that Josie would believe one word that came out of your mouth, Lara. She understands me more in the short time she's known me than you do after spending five years with me."
Lara raised an eyebrow in defiance. "Is that so? We could test that theory, if you like�"
"Leave Josie out of this, Lara. This is between you and me, nothing more, nothing less," Sam answered forcefully.
"Ah, so Achilles does have his vulnerable spot after all! Everything is okay as long as it doesn't affect Josie. Well, it does affect her. It does involve her. Without her, you'd still be with me."
Sam opened his mouth to speak, but Lara cut him off with a wave of her hand. She pushed away from the refrigerator and stalked out of the kitchen into the living room and down the hallway toward Sam's bedroom. Then she whirled around and spat, "I cannot believe that I wasted my time even coming out here! Hell, I could have had five guys better than you back in New York in a heartbeat!" Lara turned back around and continued on into the bedroom, picking up her travel bag and plopped it into the chair by the window. She unzipped it furiously and started shoving things inside of it.
Sam followed her, standing in the doorway of his room. He retorted, "Yeah, and probably did, too�"
Lara whipped her head around and said, low and menacing, "What did you just say?"
Sam glared back and replied, "You heard me. I'm sure I wasn't the only poor sap you've been stringing along all this time. It only makes sense�all those 'late nights at the office'�not being able to reach you for entire weekends at a time�even when I left messages, all the strange excuses your secretary would give me when I'd call and you weren't in. I think I've known for a while, but like everything else about our relationship, I didn't want to face the truth. Go ahead, Lara�try and deny it."
Lara turned back and shoved a black blazer forcefully into the opening in her bag. "Fine, I won't deny it, because it's true. But it's only what you deserved, Sam�only what you deserved."
"I deserved to be cheated on!? For five years, I've been nothing but faithful to you, and I deserved to be cheated on? This is one explanation I have got to hear�"
Lara's response was to stomp over to the bathroom. Sam approached the doorway and watched as she haphazardly threw her makeup and other toiletries into a smaller black bag. As Lara felt Sam's presence, she retorted, "Yes, you did deserve it, Sam! You've made me wait for over three years for you! We lived halfway across the country from each other. That's not exactly conducive to a warm, loving relationship. I am a woman with needs, Sam! Needs of a more physical nature that you couldn't take care of while you were in Chicago and I was in New York. What was I supposed to do�buy a vibrator?"
Sam leaned against the doorframe. "I guess not, no. You'd rather have the anatomically correct version, apparently. What? Were these guys just 'keeping my seat warm' for me? Keeping you well oiled, taking you out for a spin every once in a while so you wouldn't get rusty?"
Lara turned and slapped Sam across the face�hard. Rage glittered in her eyes. For a long moment it was silent, save for their harsh breathing. Then she sputtered, "How dare you!? How dare you make fun of me, Sam? You have no right�no right!"
"I thought that being boyfriend and girlfriend gave me exclusive rights, but I guess not, eh?" Sam's answer was terse as well.
Lara turned and tried to grab the remaining few makeup bottles to shove in her bag, but in her hast, she knocked one over and it tumbled down into the sink on the vanity. Lara was too angry to care, though, and just shoved the rest into the bag, leaving the lost bottle where it was. She fought with the zipper on the bag and then just stalked by Sam and shoved it into her carry on bag half-zippered.
Then Lara turned and faced Sam again. "You know, if you were a normal man with normal needs instead of some�frigid monk, you'd understand all this!"
"Wait a second, Lara�hold the phone. A minute ago, you proceeded to tell me that I was so obviously oversexed and perverted that I had to 'get it' from high school girls, and now I'm a 'frigid monk'? Which one is it, Lara? Am I an oversexed pervert or a frigid monk?"
"I wouldn't know," she answered coldly, zipping up the carry on bag and pulling out the drag handle. "I guess you're only frigid with women over 18�"
"So, because I cared enough about you to remain faithful to you after all this time, that means there's something wrong with me�?"
Lara snorted as she rolled her luggage along the floor and out into the living room, leaving Sam in her wake. "Faithful? Is that what you call this!? Do you have any idea what your 'faithfulness' will do to me? I'll be the laughing stock of Wall Street!"
"What?" Sam didn't follow her twisted logic. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"When you called me on Friday to tell me you wanted me back, I told everyone. I told everyone we were getting back together."
"I'm sure those are not quite the words you used, either�" Sam muttered.
Lara rewarded him with a dirty look, but continued, "Maybe you don't get it, Sam. It is very important to my future partnership at the firm that I look as if I can handle a successful relationship. It's sort of expected that partners be married, that they are part of the high society scene. Do you think I've been doing this simply for my health?"
"That seems like a bit of an outdated system for choosing partners, if you ask me�Shouldn't they be picking the person who is most qualified?" Sam asked.
Lara shook her head disgustedly. "Poor Sam, simple as always." She paused for a moment and then explained, "Sure, they say it doesn't work that way anymore, but I can assure you that the 'good old boy' network still exists. You can play it straight, but it will take you three times as long to get to the top. Rumor had it that I was a gold band away from a partnership�the youngest partner ever, and the first woman!"
"So word went out that things were back on with us�to all the right people, Sam. And then on Sunday night, my guy is seen on national television kissing someone else. I haven't been back to work yet, Sam�I'm too damn embarrassed! Now my name will be reduced to a punch line�I'll be utterly humiliated! And I can pretty much kiss my partnership goodbye."
"Well, I am very sorry about the circumstances this weekend, really I am. I feel just awful about it. But I hardly think that losing a 'phantom' partnership be blamed on me!"
"The hell it can't!" Lara picked up her overcoat and flung it over her arm and started toward the front door of the apartment. "You've turned me into a laughingstock! You and that bitch Josie! I'll never forgive you for this, Sam�never!"
The vehemence of Lara's vow shook Sam. He stood staring after her for a moment before he sprinted over to meet her at the door. "Oh, are you leaving?" he asked with mock civility, trying to cover his rising fear that something terrible was coming. She couldn't leave a moment too soon for his taste, he thought, trying to reassure himself. In fact, he couldn't wait to have her out of his life for good.
However, there was one more thing he needed from her�He put out his hand and asked calmly, "My key?"
Lara shoved past Sam and flung open the door, hitting him on the arm with it. "You'll get your damned key when hell freezes over, Sam!"
Sam was about to talk, but Lara suddenly whirled around and cut him off again. "Considering you're an English teacher, I assume you've heard the Shakespeare saying, 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned'?"
Not even realizing he did it, Sam slipped into teacher mode and corrected, "Actually, it's not Shakespeare. It comes from The Mourning Bride by William Con�greve�" Sam's voice died away as Lara's wrath began to glow from her eyes as if she were possessed by a demon.
"I may not know who said it, Sam�but trust me, by the time I'm done with you, you sure as hell will know what it means!" Lara snarled. "You're going to pay for what you've done to me, Sam, and you might as well start right now�with a new lock." She smiled evilly for a moment, as if pleased with herself and then sobered again. "No one makes a fool out of Lara Patton and gets away with it�no one." And turning on her heel with her head high, Lara marched down the hallway and out of sight.
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